Flexible bed-cover-retaining device



S. H. BUTTHICK. FLEXIBLE BED COVER RETAINING DEVICE. APPLICATION HLED 0U. 26, 1920.

1,419,01 5." Patent ed J une 6, 1922.

@W'ATTORNEY.

SIDNEY HOMER BU'ITRICK, OF MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS.

FLEXIBLE BED-COVER-RETAINING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 6, 1922.

Application filed. October 26, 1920. Serial No. 4195M.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIDNEY HOMER BUT- TRICK, a citizen ofv the United States, and a resident of Melrose, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new-and useful Flexible Bed- Cover-Retaining Device, of which the fol lowing is a specification, reference being bad to the accompanying sheet of drawing, forming part thereof.

The object of my invention a flexible bedcover retaining device, which is readily secured to a bed or crib, and is designed to detachably engage with the bed covers thereof for retaining .the same in covering relation over the person occupying the bed or crib.

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a bed clothes adjusting and retaining device, which is simple in construction and is designed to be flexible and yieldable so as to give readily to permit the covers to respond to the body motions of the bed 00- cupant without inconveniencing or discomforting the occupant.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a safe and practical device, particularly for infants and children, which may be associated with the ordinary crib or bed and detachably engaged with the bed covers thereof for safely and comfortably holding the same in covering position over the child, thereby not only protecting the health of the child but adding to his or her comfort.

Infants and children invariably form the habit ofv kicking oil the bed covers placed over them, and often sleep uncovered for hours, if not through the night, without.

being detected or cared for by those in attendance. The childs health is thus jeopardized, and in an effort to overcome the childs uncovering habit, in many instances, the covers are fastened to the bed or bed clothes. This, is neither safe nor comfortable for the child, since the fastening means do not provide a flexible connection to give and yield sufiiciently to the body motions or changed positions assumed by the child, and. often bind the child in an unsafe and uncomfortable manner; therefore proving decidedly objectionable.

My device is thus directed and designed to assure comfort and safety, and these are accomplished by the employment of elastic and flexible elements that are sensitive to is to provide respond to the childs motions, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be gathered from the description following herein and considered in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein the invention is shown embodied. The terms employed herein are used in the generic and descriptive sense to de signate the elements illustrated, and are therefore not primarily intended as terms of limitation. I

In order to illustrate my invention 1 have shown in the accompanying sheet of drawing an embodiment thereof, but without being limited thereto, wherein:

Fig. 1 represents a schematic, .perspective view showing my invention applied to a crib and in actual use Fig. 2 represents a plan view of my device;

Fig. 3 represents a front View of the device;

Fig. 4 represents a part of the same view as shown in Fig. 3, but shows the adjustment strap of the device taken up;

Fig. 5 represents. a sectional view taken on line 5-5 on Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 represents an enlarged plan view of the clothes clamp member employed in the device; and v Fig. 7 represents a side elevational view of the clothes clamp member employed in the device.

Like reference letters refer to like parts throughout the several views of the draw- Referring to the drawing, the letter A represents the backboard of the device which is preferably provided with the retaining straps or ribbons B which are secured in any suitable manner with the bed posts G of the crib or bed D, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Said backboard A is preferably set with the bed or crib in back of the mattress E and in a plane below the top of said mattress. F represents pulley brackets which are suitably secured to the backboard A, as by being riveted thereto, as shown in Fig. 5, and which rotatably support therein the grooved pulley wheels G. Hrepresents the flexible and pliable extension members which are preferably made of suitable metal, as brass wire, for example, closely wound in coiled spring fashion to yield a compression spring normally, which is pliable and elastic adapted to give and contract in accordance with the force directed thereagainst. I represents the adjustable anchoring strap or belt which is itself secured and anchored to the backboard A by any suitable means, as the rivet J shown in Fig. 2. K represents the anchoring loops which are preferably made of metal and floatably carried on the adjustable anchoring belt I. Said loops are provided with means for engaging the inner or anchored ends L of the flexible, elastic extension members H, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. M represents the ordinary clothesclasps or clamps which are normally held closed under spring tension and provided with the frictional gripper jaws N at one end thereof and jaw manipulating extensions 0 on the opposite end thereof. P (Fig. 6) represents the clamp-spring which is provided the clothes clamp M and which serves both as the hinge and as the tension member for normally holding the jaws N of the clamp M gripped together. Q; represents the coupling links which securely engage the free ends R of the extension members H with the clothes clamps M, said links Q; be ing preferably hooked on the ends thereof to engage and pivotally set within the center of the coiled spring P of the clothes clamp M, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. S represents the adjusting buckle of the anchoring strap or belt I. T represents the bed clothes or covers that are used to cover the occupant of the bed or crib, and which are preferably gripped on the sides U by the clothes clasps M, as shown in Fig. 1, which flexibly retain said bed covers in set and gogeringrelation with the occupant of the Having thus described the parts of my invention in detail, it will be noted that the .same providesa simple attachment for beds and cribs, which may be readily associated with thebed or crib, preferablyat the head. end thereof and employed to serve as a bed clothes retaining means for flexibly holding the covers over the person occupying the bed and preventing the latter from becoming uncovered and exposed.

The device in the main comprises elastic and flexible extension members which are j provided on the working or free ends thereof with clothes gripping elements and are anchored on the opposite ends, through suitable anchoring means, to the bed. Said extension members are adapted to act independently of each other and are given a working range beyond said anchoring points, which reaches between the normal (or compressed lengths) of said extension members and theelastic (or expanded) lengths attending the same.

In order to provide ample elastic range and easy give to the extension'members of the device, it is advisableto allow all the length possible thereto, and therefore 1 prefer to employ, as shown in the drawing, a

at the middle of said backboard, permits of employing an appreciable additional length to each extension member. In connection with the employment of such relatively long extension members, I prefer to employ the grooved pulleys G which are positioned at the ends of the backboard and about which the extension members are allowed to bend and ridereadily with the least strain thereagainst and without creating any noise, as might otherwise be the case by reason of the rubbing action of the metallic extension members over afixed and. non-rotatable element. i

The normal working positions of the extension members of the device may be adjusted to suit by the manipulation of the adjustable anchoring strap 1. As indicated in Fig. 1, the normal or compressed length of the extension members'H of the device determine the normal position of the bed covers, which according to weather conditions should reach over the chest of the occupant or to the neck, as shown in the drawing. .Thus a single setting or adjust ment of the devicewill obviously suffice for along period of time, as the occupants head, when lying in bed, ordinarily assumes the same relative position in the bed which is necessarily within the uncovered and exposed section of thebed.

The device may beset with the bed to be concealed from view and out of reach of the child, and if desired, may be ornamentally decorated to assume an attractive character. The clothes clamps M will effectively grip the bed covers, as shown in the drawing, and will stay set therewith and follow the covers and cause the extension members to elastically function in connection therewith. The covers are thereby normally kept over i the occupant, and

when the. latter moves about or attempts to kick the same oif the extension members of the device will stretch and yield. and exert the tendency. to hold back andretain the covers in the normal position. It will thus be observed that the device,

through the clothes clamps .M, may be readily engaged withor disengaged from the bedcovers T, and thatithe device provides an absolutesafemeans for retaining the bed covers in covering relation with the occupant without impairingthe comfort or safety'of the latter.

It will be understood thatwhere I refer to will be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the particular construction set forth, since various changes in the form,

- for afiixing the same with a bed, means for adjustably anchoring said extension members with said backboard, and end pulley members adapted to engage with said extension members for angularly bending and riding the same about said pulley members; means for adjustably varying the lengths of said extension members; and means provided the free ends of said extension members for temporarily gripping the bed covers therewith 2. In a device of the character described, a pair of coiled spring extension members normally compressed and otherwise adapted to expand and stretch under pull directed thereagainst; a backboard provided with pulley brackets adapted to engage with intermediate parts of said extension members for forming a corner bend therein and for guiding said extension members about same, and anchoring means for securing the inner ends or" said extension members therewith; and clothes gripping members provided the outer and free ends of said extension members adapted to temporarily engage with the clothes covers for retaining same in set relation with the bed.

3. In a device of the character described, a pair of pliable, coiled spring extension members normally compressed and otherwise adapted to expand and stretch under pull directed thereagainst; a backboard provided with spaced pulley brackets adapted to" engage with intermediate parts of said extension members for forming corner bends therein and for guiding said extension members about same, and anchoring means for securing the inner ends of said extension members therewith; clothes grippingmem bers provided the outer and free ends of said extension members adapted to temporarily engage with the clothes covers for retaining same in set relation with the bed; and means for aflixing and securing said backboard to the bed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature, this twenty-fifth day of October,

SIDNEY HOMER BUTTRICK.

Witnesses:

B. H. CI-IERTOK, D. LIOHTENSTEIN. 

